Of Actresses and Sorrow
by Almost an Actress
Summary: Thespian Moon is an actress; there's nothing more to it than that. She's a little bit rough around the edges with her torn ears and short shock of mane, but nothing stops her. She's impulsive, cheerful, and confident. What happens, though, when comedy begins to fly to the rafters, and tragedy is on the top of the playbill? (Contains lots of theatre, lots of songs, and some death.)
1. Of First Days and Young Rivals

Nopony ever thought the actress would fall for the simple Earth pony. Her name was Starlet, and she was the best actress in Equestria. She was a deep lavender color, had a long white mane, and big brown eyes. Her cutie mark was a huge golden star. She was good, and she knew it. Stallions wanted to hook up with her. Mares wanted to be her. Fillies had her pictures in their rooms. Colts talked about how pretty she was.

You'd better belive that she had suitors lined up around the block. She went on dates whenever she wasn't rehearsing. The suitors bought her flowers, chocolates, cocktail dresses, expensive drinks, anything she asked for.

She met The One on the stage, as expected. But he wasn't the male romantic lead. He wasn't even the director. He was an extra, and a townspony. He was on the stage exactly once, when he crossed it, waved to somepony, looked to his left, and then exited the stage. His name was Performer, and his cutie mark was a stage.

He wasn't very special in the looks department. He had a white mane, powder blue pelt, and yellow eyes. So what was it that attracted Starlet? Was it his beautiful singing voice, his acting skills, or his sweet, honest personality?

Starlet said it was all of these things.

Anyway, Starlet and Performer got married, much to many a stallion's dismay. One month later, they had a daughter. Her name was Thespian Moon. She was white as fresh-fallen snow, had burnt-orange eyes, and a sea-foam green mane and tail. She was a Pegasus, but didn't carry the sporty gene most Pegasi carried.

All she cared about was acting.

XXX

So, yeah. That's me. I'm Thespian Moon. My name, the "Thespian" part, means "an actor or actress", as the dictionary says. I decided to write about my life. Maybe somepony could relate.

From the time I was just a filly, I knew that I wanted to be an actress. I wanted to be up on the stage, up in the spotlight. I wanted to feel that warm golden glow in my stomach when I was in front of an audience.

The other fillies in my grade were interested in drawing or sports or music, but I had no time for it. I was often beckoned to participate in soccer games and beauty pageants, but I just didn't want to be in them. I guess my story starts at about age five. I'd just entered kindergarten, and it was the first day.

Our teacher was named Mrs. Jewel. She was bright red with a shocking yellow mane and a cutie mark of a flower and a jewel next to each other. I had absolutely no idea what it meant. "Hello, students!" she trilled as we stood awkwardly in the doorway. She took out a clipboard and looked at some list. "My name is Mrs. Jewel," the young mare said distractedly while she scanned the list. "Ahh, here's how we'll do it: I'll call out a name and direct you to your seat. Is that okay, kids?"

"Yes, Mrs. Jewel," he chorused.

She looked at her list and read, "The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon," in a slightly confused voice. "Ah… would you please raise your hoof The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon?"

A little blue filly with an extremely pale blue mane with one white streak raised her hoof. "I am The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon," she announced. "Mama put it on my birth certificate, so that makes it real! You may call The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon 'Trixie' if you wish."

"Alrighty, Miss Trixie," Mrs. Jewel said with a smirk, "you'll sit at that table. Choose a seat, please."

Trixie skipped over to the table and chose a seat, waiting patiently for more ponies.

The next pony Mrs. Jewel called was a white unicorn with a purple mane and tail. "Um… Engine-You?" Mrs. Jewel puzzled out.

The unicorn raised her hoof with a withering look. "It's pronounced On-ja-noo," she said, sounding it out as if her teacher were stupid. "It means a young female lead in a play. I love acting, and I'm going to be the best actress in the class." With that, she flounced over to Trixie's table and sat down next to her.

Next came me. "Thespian Moon?" Mrs. Jewel asked. "Looks like we've got another actress in the class!" she said with a wink over in Ingénue's direction.

I raised my hoof and smiled, but inside I was seething. Who did this Ingénue think she was?!_ I_ was the actress, not _her_! After all, my name meant it, and both of my parents were actors! Deciding to get even with the prissy unicorn I announced, "That's me, Thespian Moon. Thespian means "an actor or actress." So, as you can guess, I'm an actress! My parents are named Starlet and Performer, and they raised me with a love of acting!" I shot Ingénue a look, and then walked over to her table and sat down across from her.

"Is… is your mother _the_ Starlet?" a foal asked. He was dark brown with a long black mane. "My name is Gingerbread. My mama is obsessed with her plays!"

"Yep," Thespian declared proudly. "_The_ Starlet!"

"Well, Gingerbread," Mrs. Jewel smiled warmly. "Since your mother loves Thespian Moon's mother so much, how about you sit next to her. Maybe you can sneak your mom an autograph," she added with a wink.

Gingerbread came over and sat next to me. "Hi, guys!" he grinned.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie Lulamoon is not a guy!" Trixie scolded. "You are dumb!"

Ingénue gave Trixie an approving glance. "Yeah," she remarked. "Are you stupid or something?"

"He's not stupid!" I cried, slamming both hooves on my desk. "You're stupid, you meany!"

And so came the birth of a long and glorious rivalry.

XXX

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: So there it was, everypony. That was the first day of kindergarten for fiery young Thespian Moon. Please review and read! **

**XOXO- Novi! **


	2. Of Bullying and New Friends

Gingerbread and I were lounging in the playhouse outside on the playground on the second day of kindergarten. "Want some coffee, Gingerbread?" I asked seriously, walking over to the plastic sink.

"I'd love some, Thespian Moon!" Gingerbread enthused. He joined me at the fake sink and smiled. "Does coffee come out of the sink?"

I nodded. "Duh," I giggled. "Doesn't it always?" I grabbed a blue plastic cup and turned on the pink plastic tap, making a "Shhh" noise, as if coffee were frothing out of the tap. Handing the blue cup to Gingerbread, I laid down on the "bed" and put my hooves behind my head, relaxing. "This is the life, Gingerbread," I said, closing my eyes. "Coffee and sleeping. Yep, that's what I'm gonna do all day when I'm an actress." Little did I realize that you can't drink coffee and sleep. It's impossible. I opened my eyes to study Gingerbread.

Gingerbread slurped his "coffee" and giggled. He looked out of the playhouse window and a sour expression crossed over his usually smiling face. "Uh-oh," Gingerbread muttered. "We're got trouble. Look, Thespian Moon."

I joined him at the window and frowned at what I saw: Ingénue, Trixie, and a few others surrounding a colt and a filly, laughing and sneering. The filly was cream-colored with a soft orange mane and big purple eyes. She was crying, whimpering, "Please go away!" The colt was black with a white mane, snapping, "You stay away from her!"

"We need to help them, Gingerbread!" I cried. "C'mon!" Without waiting for a reply, I grabbed Gingerbread's hoof and galloped outside, breaking through the cruel circle of ponies. I jumped in front of the meek white unicorn and bellowed, "Anypony who messes with her messes with me!" Gingerbread stood next to me, glaring at the crowd and snorting, his breath steaming in the cold autumn air.

The black colt stood next to me, nodding sharply and giving a ground-shaking, "GET AWAY FROM GLITTERING FLAME, YOU JERKS! IF YOU COME NEAR HER, I'LL PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE!" Suddenly, his flank lit up with a glowing blue-white light. After the light receded, on his black flank was a stark white hopscotch with ten places to jump.

And so came the beginning of a long and glorious friendship.

**XXX**

**Author's Note: Hey there, everypony! :D Sorry for the short chapter, but I felt like that was a good place to end it. I'll be updating soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This one is dedicated to Emmo13, one of the best FanFic buddies you could have! Check out her stories! I'm ending each chapter with "… the beginning of a long and glorious…" thing, so don't think I'm just forgetting and repeating myself. **

**And by the way….**

** Shado: You know who you are. By the way, thanks for reviewing my stories so much! It means a lot. By the way, Thespian Moon **_**is**_** described in the first chapter, when she's telling about her parents. Just a heads up. Thanks, dude!**

**XOXO- Novi **


	3. Of Cutie Marks and On-ja-Moo

How the time seemed to fly. I guess the next memorable event in my life was when I got my cutie mark. I was twelve years old, the only blank flank left in my seventh grade class. We were putting on the musical _Haysus Christ Superstar_, and I was so excited I thought I would burst.

XXX

I sat in the cafeteria with Hopscotch, Gingerbread, and Glittering Flame, my forelegs crossed and a scowl on my face. Hopscotch had gotten his cutie mark, a hopscotch court with ten places to jump, when he was_ five_! It turned out his special talent was bravery. The hopscotch represented jumping into uncertain situations with courage. Glittering Flame had gotten her cutie mark when she was ten. It was a few dancing flames that were sparkling. Her special talent was kindness or something like that. Gingerbread's special talent was baking, and his cutie mark was a strange gingerbread creature that he told me was a "human."

And I, shamefully, still didn't have one.

Suddenly, our principal came into the cafeteria with a microphone in her hoof. She flicked it on and tapped it a few times to test it. She then levitated it with her magic and spoke into it. "Hello seventh graders," she said politely. "The school has decided to test your singing and acting skills…" – my ears pricked up – "by putting on a spring musical. We've selected an oldie but a goldie. It's called _Haysus Christ Superstar_."

At those words, I saw Ingénue's ears spring straight into the air. She was over at the popular table, of course. The ponies over there were Trixie, a skinny white filly named Fleur de Lis, three colts that always hung around the hoofball games but never played in them, and of course… Ingénue. Since their table was next to ours, I heard her hissing to Fleur de Lis and Trixie: "That's one of my favorites! I'm totally trying out!"

I had a feeling that even though she'd whispered it to her friends, I had a feeling she'd been speaking directly to me.

"That little priss," I huffed to nopony in particular. "She thinks she's so great! Ugh. Makes me sick."

Glittering Flame gave a smile that was gentle and nervous at the same time. "Uh… Thespian Moon? All she said was that she liked it. Have you ever thought that maybe you might be a little… um, jealous?"

I shot her a glare that translated to _DEATH_. "Of course not!" I hissed incredulously. "Celestia, Glitter! Sometimes I think you're on _her_ side!"

The principal continued on, "Tryouts will be tomorrow directly after school. We're looking for the best talent here, and I hope every one of you considers trying out." With that, she trotted away happily.

Glittering Flame laid her ears back, which she often did when she was around me. "I… I'm not on her side Thespian Moon," she whimpered. Her eyes went big and she looked like I had just killed her pet bunny.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Hopscotch, who generally agreed with me about everything. He nodded his head in consent, his striking black pelt catching the light of the sun. "She's a priss," he concluded. "Face it, Glitter. She's never gonna be nice." He smiled a bit and patted Glittering Flame on the head. "C'mon out of that shell, Glitzy." Her ears slowly came up and she stopped looking like a kicked puppy.

"Well… she _is_ a bit of a priss," she allowed with a tiny smile.

"That's my girl!" Hopscotch laughed.

I always wondered how Hopscotch found the patience to deal with Glittering Flame. He was pretty surly most of the time, but with Glittering Flame he was gentle.

Gingerbread observed this in silence and ran a hoof through his thick black mane. "Thespie?" he asked quietly. "You're trying out aren't you?"

I nodded. "Duh! On-ja-moo _can't_ get the lead role! If she does it'll boost up her ego even more."

"You don't even like the play, though," Gingerbread reminded me. "You said – and I quote – 'It's too sad! And stupid. Who cares?' I can only think that you're doing this just to show her up."

I giggled and flicked my ears back with a blush. "Whatever." I made Hopscotch use his magic to peel an orange for me and then squirted a slice at Gingerbread. It got in his eye. As he shouted and hollered, I snuck quietly away to eat my orange.

XXX

The cast list was up. I scanned the list and saw "Marey Magdolin… Thespian Moon."

And that's when two masks, one bewailing and the other rejoicing, and the words 'Drama Club' appeared on my flank. And then I threw a pointed smirk at Ingénue.

And so came the beginning of a long and glorious career in acting.


	4. Of Old Friends and New Friends

**Hey everypony! Hi .*Stupid grin* I'm trying to update as often as I can, and it's finally Winter Break! *Squees* I'm trying to get to all of my stories, but it's really hard, y'know? By the way, I don't **_**own Death of a Salesman**_**, **_**Jesus Christ Superstar**_**, or any of the plays I pony-fy. (I'm reading Death of a Salesman with my dad. It's awesome.) **

**Anyways, enjoy!**

**-Novi **

**XXX**

From then on, my life consisted of auditions, callbacks, rehearsals, and performances. I barely had time for my friends anymore. And when we did hang out, I always had a script in my hoof. One day in ninth grade, when I was fourteen, my friends confronted me about it.

It was lunch time, pretty much the only time of day when I saw my friends. Usually though, I alternated between shoving food in my mouth and trying to memorize lines. Today I sipped a hayshake and shoved some French fries in my mouth.

Glittering Flame laid her ears back and tentatively raised a cream-colored hoof, pushing my script down. "Um… Thespie?" she risked asking.

"What?!" I snapped. "I love you, Glitters, but I'm really cramming for this one. _Death of a Mulesman_ is one of the most complicated plays to do. Linda Lomare is a demanding role."

"That's exactly what we're trying to talk about!" Hopscotch cried, slamming his hoof on the lunch table. He used his magic to levitate my script away from my face and into the air.

I grimaced and shoved the straw of the hayshake into my mouth. That script was my baby. I slurped the shake until my cheeks were blue and I swallowed a huge lump of doughy drink and lay gasping on the table. "What _gasp _do _gasp_ you _gasp_ want?" I choked out.

"You like acting more than you like your own friends!" Glittering Flame burst out. Her ears were straight up with anger, her cheeks flushed with determination. She pushed her light blue glasses up her stubby muzzle.

"That's not true!" I cried angrily. "I'm just serious about my career! Look at you, Glittering Flame! All you do is math, and I never yell at you! Because I know you want to be a math professor. You don't talk to us as much as you used to; you're focused on your studies. Do I fault you for that?!"

Her mouth gawped open and closed like a dead fish. "I… ah… I…" she stuttered out.

I glared at Gingerbread and Hopscotch. "And you two! You don't even know what you wanna be!" With that, I flew over to Hopscotch and kicked him in the horn. He cursed and stopped levitating my script, clutching his horn and moaning in pain. I neatly retrieved my script before it hit the ground and gave him a dainty sniff. "Bite me, unicorn," I growled, and flew away to go sit with my theatre friends.

That was another problem: I was making new friends in theatre. They shared my interests and they were all a bit kinder than my "real friends." I sat next to another Pegasus named Solo Song. She was gray with a light blue mane and golden eyes. Her cutie mark was a microphone and an eighth note. She punched me in the shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile. "Friend troubles?"

I nodded, disgusted. "Yeah. They think I like theatre more than I like them." Just to be nasty, I added, "I'm beginning to agree with them."

Solo Song offered another smile. "Ah, come off it, Thespie. They're your friends. You just have different priorities."

"Yeah, Solo. You're right." I threw my feathery white wing around her with a smile. "That's why you're my BFF."

She wrapped her gray wing around me in return and nuzzled my ear. "That's right, Thespie!"

"Pegasi of a feather," came a silken voice. It was Ballad Bard, the cutest Pegasus in the entire high school. He also happened to be Solo's brother. He was gray like her, but he had a purple mane and giant blue eyes. He _also_ happened to be my coltfriend. He flew over to us, carrying his lunch tray and fluttering down next to me. "How's my filly?"

"Much better than I was five minutes ago," I answered dreamily, wrapping my other wing around him. The other theatre ponies jeered at us and made kissy faces, but Ballad and I laughed it off.

A pink unicorn named Stunning Stitch who was our main costumist gave me a concerned frown. "Thespie, you need to stop hanging out with those jerky ponies. You always come here talking about how they offend you. Why do you give them second chances?"

I shrugged, drawing Solo Song and Ballad Bard closer with my wings. "I dunno, Stunning. I grew up with them. We were like peas in a pod from kindergarten to eighth grade. But as I got serious about acting… they got… I dunno."

"Stick with us, kid," an Earth pony named Stage Crew advised. "Acting is our passion." He paused. "Well, for me it's helping backstage, but… you know. It's all part of acting. And here's a good lesson: Wanna make it big? Ditch the whiners."

With that, I sighed and said, "Already done."


	5. Of Cruel Directors and Lovely Kisses

**Hey there everypony! Happy late Christmas! Ooop. Hearth's Warming Eve! ;) So… I know the director in this chapter seems unrealistically mean, but let me assure you that there ARE directors like this.**

**Enjoy!**

**-Novi**

**XXX**

"Thank you for curing me of my ridiculous obsession with love!" Ballad Bard screamed down at me. He let go of my hooves and threw me to the ground. He shot me a glare of pure acid and opened his wings, flying slowly away from me. Tears streaked down his slate-gray muzzle.

I stood up shakily, my mane and tail drooping and bedraggled. My eyes burned with tears. "Come what may," I sang quietly. "I will love you… until my dying day." Ballad kept flying away. I sang a few more bars of the song, eventually bursting out into a heart-wrenching note. Suddenly, I felt my throat seize up. I gasped out a choked breath. "I will love you… until my dying day," I repeated in a whisper.

Slowly, Ballad flew around toward me. His eyes had softened, and his ears were laid back. He almost looked like he would accept me again!

"CUT!" the director screamed. He laid his ears back and wiped his forehead with a hoof. "C'mon, ponies! We only have three days until this play airs, and _some_ ponies are still getting their lines wrong." He put way too much emphasis on "some" and gave me a death glare. "Thespian Moon! How many times do I have to tell you: Wait until the crowd gasps at your choking to sing the line!"

I blushed and folded my wings to my wings to my side, mumbling a "sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" the director screamed at me. "You even got the song wrong!" He had just realized this, of course, but he wasn't about to admit that he hadn't noticed my major error until he'd just so happened to look down at his director's copy of the script. He used his dark blue magic to levitate me into the air and zoom me over to him. I was suspended there like a naughty foal with her hoof caught in the cookie jar. He shoved the script in my face. "What does this say?" he asked me through gritted teeth.

"'Never knew I could feel like this'," I mumbled. "Not 'come what may.' Sorry."

The veins in my director's neck budged and trembled. "That's not all is it, Ms. Moon?" he said in a scarily calm tone.

I blushed. "Sorry," I muttered again.

"READ IT!" the director thundered.

So I read out the entire song, catching my cast mates' eyes. Ballad Bard looked outraged, like he could rip the director's throat out, but he would never speak out against the director or else he'd be kicked out of the play. Stunning Stitch had frozen where she stood, he horn spurting some bright pink sparks and a half-finished red dress lying before her. Stage Crew's eyes flashed with sympathy, but he seemed to be on the verge of terrified laughter. Everypony but Ingénue looked scared and sympathetic. She was grinning so hard I thought her cheeks would fall off.

I guess it served me right, considering how well my acting career had been doing. I'd gotten the lead role in every play we'd done, and Ingénue could hope for a secondary role at best and a chorus member at worst. She blew her purple mane out of her eyes and flashed me a wink.

When I was finally done after shakily reading the whole stupid thing, the director let me crash to the floor. I quickly got up and shook myself off like a dog. "I'll get it right next time," I growled. My mom had told me of such cruel directors, but I didn't think a high school director would ever be so mean. I suppose you could've said it was because of the tension of the play's soon-ness in airing, but it didn't mean the director had to be a big fat b-

"GET BACK ON THAT STAGE!" he roared at me.

I flapped into the air and zipped over to the stage. I flicked my tail and swiveled my ears. "Let's go again," I said.

XXX

It was after rehearsals. 10:30 at night. Ballad had offered to fly me home, and just as we were leaving the director placed his brown hoof over my tail. "Thespian Moon." His tone terrified me; I was about to get one of his famous lectures. I'd heard from my upperclassman that if this particular director kept you after he was going to rip you to shreds. It was rumored that he'd even kept a filly after school until midnight, making her write "I will not mess up my lines" over and over again on a chalkboard until her hoof ached so bad she had to be taken to the hospital.

I turned around in dread. "Y-yes?" I stammered, cursing myself for letting the director see my weakness. Directors were like wolves: They could practically smell your fear and weakness. And if they did… they wouldn't hesitate to pounce on you.

Ballad Bard tried to stick up for me. "Um… sir? We really need to get home. Thespie's parents are expecting her and-"

The director offered my coltfriend a cool look. "You are excused, Mr. Bard. Unless there's something you'd like to talk about, of course."

Ballad laid his ears back. "Um… no, sir. Great rehearsal." He turned to me, an apology in his eyes. "I'll meet you out front, Thespie." With that, he snapped open his wings and skedaddled out of the auditorium as fast as he could.

When Ballad was gone, the director _tsk_ed. "Nice colt, eh? Well-meaning. Sweet. Protective, even." He eyed me with his cool blue eyes. "Your coltfriend, I assume?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir." He had yet to take his hoof off of my tail. I'd been warned about this small talk. He tried to butter you up, and if he lulled you into a false sense of security, he'd rip into even more. I was wary to say the least.

"I was very disappointed with your performance today," he began calmly.

I hung my head. "Sorry about that, sir. Really. I don't know why I got that wrong. A… a rookie mistake. I mean, the show comes on in three days. I should've been more on top. I mean… I will be more on top. From now on. I promise." In my head, I was screaming _SHUT UP! You're babbling! He smells fear! _

"Ms. Moon."

The words silenced me immediately. "Sorry," I mumbled.

He finally lifted his hoof from my tail and gave me a look that looked almost… _kind_. Suddenly, his kind face transformed. His ears stood rigid with anger, his cheeks flushed purplish-red, and his horn shot off blue sparks. His brown pelt seemed to stand on end. He suddenly began to scream at me, insulting my acting and my singing. He told me my alto voice would never be good enough for the big theatres. He told me that I read music like a foal, and that my voice croaked when I tried to sing opera. He told me that I would never be good enough for Broadwhinny. He told me… a lot of things.

And I stood there and took it.

I kept my wings firmly folded at my sides, my ears straight up, and my chin defiantly up in the air. When he was done belittling me, I flashed a confident smirk and said something that I most definitely _**SHOULD NOT**_ have. In fact, I'm still surprised to this day he let me be in the show. I said, "That's your opinion." And then, I calmly flapped out of the auditorium.

Ballad Bard was leaning up against the front of the school, dozing. He snapped awake when I trotted up to him. "Hey," he said softly. "He wasn't too hard on ya, was he?"

With that, I began to sob. I clung tightly to him as the tears fell down my face. Between my whimpers and horrible dying-whale noises, I related my story.

He hugged my tightly and patted my back, wrapping me in his wings. "Oh, Thespie. You can't ever listen to him. EVER. You're good enough for Broadwhinny right now. You can cry on demand, you can sing, and you have a great personality. Any director would be crazy not to choose you." His purple mane blew back in the night wind. "I need to get you home before your parents suspect foul play," he said with a tiny smile.

I wiped my eyes, smiling. "Thanks, Ballad," I sniffled. "It's just… nopony has ever laid into me like that. I felt powerless."

He opened his wings, letting the wind play with his dark gray feathers. "You're in no shape to fly, Miss Powerless," he teased.

I flapped into the air and settled myself on his back. "You're a good colt, Ballad," I said quietly, wrapping my front legs around his neck. He flew into the air. It was weird flying on the back of another Pegasus. I hadn't done it since I was just a filly and Mom had flown me on her back since I couldn't fly yet. The wind tore at my mane, but it didn't feel bad. I felt the director's cruel words slip away from me.

I buried my muzzle in Ballad's mane until we got to my house. "Thanks," I murmured quietly.

He tipped my face towards his. "You're worth it, Thespie. Don't you ever forget that. That director is wrong."

Sure, I'd been kissed before, but never so romantically.


	6. Of Vomit and New Developments

**Hi, everypony! I changed my username… again. ^^ I apologize, but I couldn't help. This is the last time I'll be changing it for a while. I'm Almost an Actress now. I still go by Novi to my old friends like JackalFoxx, Emmo13, and Shado Room of Souls. But I go by Almost to everypony else. Almost or Novi. Got it? Good. I'm going to see Le Mis today! 3 Yays! Anyway, I don't own Moulin Rouge. So there. **

** Since Krushnazag's story was so awesome, I decided to use his OC, Gears. Gears only shows up a little in this chapter, but he shows up a lot more in the other chapters. **

**- Almost Novi**

After my director had ripped me to shreds to cruelly the night before, I went back to rehearsals feeling a bit scared. Luckily, things went as planned. Stunning Stitch finished the red dress I had to wear right before her deadline, Ballad Bard and I got all of our lines memorized and didn't mess up once, but… then something awful happened. Stage Crew lifted a sea-green hoof in the middle of my solo and croaked out, "I feel sick!" With that, the Earth pony galloped out of the auditorium towards the colt's bathroom.

He didn't make it.

I could hear my friend vomiting down the hall, and I was nauseated myself. I stuffed my wings into my ears and shut my eyes as tightly as I could, sinking to the stage.

"Thespie?" Stunning Stitch asked. The pink unicorn trotted up to the stage and her jewel-blue eyes flashed me a look of concern. "Are… you okay?"

I nodded tightly. "Whenever somepony throws up I do this. I'm not gonna throw up myself, and it's best if I'm ignored," I recited. How many times had I said this since I was a foal? It had all started the day Hopscotch had gotten sick on the playground in kindergarten and I nearly had a panic attack. That memory tore at me. I missed Hopscotch. I also hated him slightly. Suddenly, I felt bile rise in my throat. I cleared my throat and said, "Strike that. I am going to barf." With that, I flew as fast as I could to the filly's bathroom. I'll tell you now, throwing up is the most disgusting thing in Equestria.

Stunning Stitch came running into the bathroom. "Thespie," she said quietly.

"What?" I moaned, laying my cheeks to the bathroom floor.

"Mood swings?" she asked gently.

I nodded against the cool tile. "Mmm-hmm."

"Pain in your stomach? Maybe headaches?"

I nodded again. I was able to lift my head weakly. "That's been happening for about the past week. What are you, some kind of guru?"

She gave me a knowing grin. "Thespie… you're a late bloomer!" She said it almost as if she was admonishing me. "Now, think about this, honey: We're in ninth grade, nearing the end of the year. Around ages ten to fifteen, fillies-"

"I think I know where you're going with this," I grumbled. And even though I did, I still got a lecture on "female cycles." Stunning was pretty much the mother of our group, but sometimes she took the role too seriously. Though I was loathe admitting it, my parents and I only really discussed acting and singing. My mom had never told me about the Pegasi and the bees. I had learned it all from Stunning, and it was easier to hear from a friend than a parent. Or so I assumed.

Finally, she finished telling me about all the hell I had to look forward to until I was an old mare. She wiped her brow and sighed. "The director is in a tizzy." Suddenly, her blue eyes widened. "Oh, no. You're gonna be okay, right? You can't not be in the play!"

I got shakily to my hooves and flashed a confident, pukey smile. "Of course I am, Stunning! I just threw up a week's worth of food, found out that I started my period, and embarrassed myself in front of the entire cast. Who do you take me for?"

Stunning giggled. "Wash out your mouth, filly. Your breath smells like something crawled in there and died!"

"Ha ha," I said dryly, washing my mouth out with water and popping a breath mint courtesy of Stunning. "I'm starving now."

"Suck it up," Stunning giggled, grabbing my hoof and tugging me back to the auditorium. "The star's okay, sir!" she called to the director.

He mopped his brow with a heavy brown hoof. "Thank Celestia," he muttered. For the first time since auditions, he looked almost kindly, and not faux-nice, but real nice. He beckoned us over, sighing. "Ms. Moon. I don't know what that was about and I don't want to know. All I need to know is if you can still play Satine. _Marelon Rouge_ is our hardest production yet, and I played a risky card, casting two ninth graders as the leads. I need you to perform impeccably. Can you?"

I nodded, sure of myself. "Yes, sir," I said with a confident smile. I flew up to the stage. "I'm ready."

"Cue the music!" the director called. There was a long pause. "Cue the music!" he said again, glancing over.

"Sir, Stage Crew and his assistant are in the bathroom. After Stage got sick, Bright Light got sick too. You know how she is," Ballad explained.

The director's eye twitched. "WHAT?!" he thundered. "That's _THREE_ ponies that got sick! Where are our lighting experts? Where is our backstage help?" He was getting angrier and angrier, snorting out air like a bull.

"Sir," I said, feeling my stomach churn again, "you only let Bright Light and Stage Crew help."

His eye twitched again, and with that he stormed out of the auditorium. Stunning and I stood there in shock. I wrapped my tail around my back leg nervously and laid my ears back. "He's never done that before," I whispered.

Ballad flew over to me, his wings snapped to his sides. "I…" he muttered trailing off. "What do we do?"

Ingénue trotted to the center of the stage and cleared her throat. At this point, our entire cast was nervous. "Ahem," she said. "Cast members, calm down. The director is obviously just upset with Thespian's trotted to the center of the stage and cleared her throat. At this point, our entire cast was nervous. "Ahem," she said. "Cast members, calm down. The director is obviously just upset with Thespian's antics. He'll be fine."

I snarled, zipping up to the stage faster than necessary. I grabbed her by the horn. "It's not me!" I shouted, tugging her horn and drawing her face closer to me. "Just because you're jealous of me doesn't mean you need to project it, Ingénue!"

She tugged her horn back and gasped as if I'd just killed her mother. "How _DARE_ you accuse me of being jealous of you?!" she shrieked. "I'm just trying to take charge of the cast! Unlike you, of course, who has to make a melodrama out of the fact that one _pony_ vomited."

I rolled my eyes. "That's just it, Ingénue. I'll be honest: vomit freaks me out. I know you're terrified of snakes. If a pony brought their pet snake in, I think it would be a bit of a different story." Seeing her terrified eyes, I restrained the urge to roll mine again. "I know you're jealous. I mean, I always get the roles you want, I have the stallion you want, and I don't flaunt it. You'd be happier if I flaunted it, wouldn't you? It'd make you more justified to hate me."

She glared at me nastily. "I didn't want Satine," she said quietly. "Nini is a fine role. And… I didn't want Ballad Bard."

At this, Ballad offered a snort. She'd flirted with him shamefully for a month after he'd become my coltfriend, and then finally backed off, but still offered him a wink or an "accidental" look at his flank now and then. "Ingénue… just lay off of Thespie," he said wearily. Turning to the rest of us he said, "C'mon! We're gonna rehearse!"

Just then, our savior walked in in the form of a brown unicorn. His messy black mane shone in the abandoned stage lights like a tar slick. His pelt turned a luminescent coffee color. "Hi," he said in a gravelly voice. "I'm Gears. I saw the director outside talking to himself about a missing light crew." He bounced lightly on his hooves. "If you need me I'm here. I'm REALLY good at building stuff, and I'm pretty good with lights."

Stunning's pink cheeks turned practically beet-red. Her ears stuck straight up in the air. "He. Is. Amazing." She said the words so slowly and deliberately that I had to laugh. She turned to me with blazing eyes. "Shut. Up. He's mine." With that, she trotted over to him. "We need your help, unicorn," she said slyly.

His horn sparked with light green magic. "Tell me what to do."

And that's how Gears saved our show.


	7. Of Performances and Best Nights

**I saw Le Mis yesterday, December 30****th****. It was so amazing that I died… and cried. SO MANY TIMES. . By the way, I forgot to thank TheSnarkKnight30 for making this AWESOME cover to my story. Thespie and Ballad wouldn't have been united in a flowery field with an awesome sky behind them if it wasn't for you, Snark! READ HER STORIES. Anyway, happy almost New Year! By the time most – or all – of you read this… it'll be 2013! **

**By the by, I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic OR **_**Moulin Rouge**_**. OR **_**Death of a Salesman**_**, OR **_**Romeo and Juliet**_**, OR… anything here. Just the OCs and the story. **

**Enjoy!**

**- Almost Novi**

**XXX**

I stood under the stage with the rest of the cast, all of us nervous. I slowly opened and closed my wings to relax myself. I didn't want my wings to stiffen with fear in the middle of the performance. I'd go plummeting to the stage. I'd seen this happen before to many a Pegasus actor and actress, and it wasn't pretty. I flicked my ears down, and practiced looking rejected and miserable. I flipped them up and set my jaw, glaring at no one and snorting air like a bull. I let them go at a middle height and tried to look lusty. I was still bad at that. I rubbed the flat of my hooves to my eyes, murmuring, "You can do it. You can do it."

Ballad Bard found me at my twenty-eighth "You can do it" and snickered. "Are you okay, Thespie?" he asked me.

I grinned. "I'm fine," I assumed him. "It's just a pre-acting thing I do." I shook my head and began murmuring, "Bumblebeeeeee, bumblebeeee, bum" at varying octaves. It was a voice warm-up that I'd known before I knew the alphabet.

Ballad laughed loudly, and was shushed by just about every actor in the play. He flicked his ears back and offered a sheepish smile, which received mutters and grumbles. He turned to me. "Pre-play jitters," she said quietly. "Everypony's wound tighter than a top." He noted my rapidly changing expressions and looked thoughtful. "I oughta do that too." He laid his ears back and stroked the fake beard he was wearing for his part. "This is a story about love," he murmured. His face crumpled like his family had been killed. He continued to murmur his forlorn lines until the director found him in the cramped space.

"Get in your spot!" he commanded in a whisper.

Ballad nodded, kissed me on the cheek, and walked through the crowd. We parted like the red sea for our lead. He stood on the platform that would raise him to the stage. And slowly, it began to rise.

XXX

The play was going perfectly. From where I was singing with Ballad I could see Gears flip a lighting switch with his magic. It made my pelt glitter like a thousand snowflakes, my mane glow like the ocean on a moonlit night. My dress shone a blood red I would never forget. In that moment, I felt so beautiful.

Too bad I had to die.

We all stopped singing, and smiled at each other. Ballad Bard wrapped me in a hug, as if I were the last thing he would ever let go of, even if the world was ending around us. "Great performance," he whispered into my ear. That wasn't part of the play. I flicked him on the muzzle with my tail and we stood next to each other and bowed. A bit ironic that _Marelon Rouge _was about a musical about a play. It made me want to giggle, so I laughed as if it were scripted.

I could see Stage Crew and Bright Light in the audience, both looking a little sick, but happy to see us performing. Stunning Stitch was there too, her pelt shining the most delicate pink in the lights. She was clapping wildly.

"We are the foals of the revolution!" the cast screamed, and hugged and kissed and giggled as if the play was over. Suddenly, I began to cough. I put a hoof to my mouth and widened my eyes, as if I were surprised. I let all four of my legs begin to shake and wobble. I sputtered and hacked. I let one of my front legs slowly sink. I leaned down as if bowing, breathing heavily. My other front leg buckled and I fell to the stage, hitting my chin. I heard _Oooh_s from the audience; the crack of chin-on-stage impact was audible. It hurt like mad, so I bit down on the blood pack that had been wedged in my mouth since the beginning of the last act. I coughed at the same time, so it looked like I had hacked up blood. I heard a few gasps from the audience, and resisted the urge to smile. My back legs finally buckled and I lay there, my wings splayed and fake blood dripping out of my jaw.

Ballad grabbed me in his front legs and turned me over, murmuring, "Oh, Satine. Satine… what's happening?" The hurt in his eyes was so real I could've cried.

"I'm dying, Christian," I managed. I heard a few muffled sobs from the audience and resisted the urge to smile again. I muttered a few words, but my "dying words" were "Tell our story, Christian."

Suddenly, everypony was lowered beneath the stage from trapdoors and platforms. Ballad's typewriter and chair were raised up, and through a crack in the boards of the stage, I could see him sit heavily down on the chair and begin to type on the typewriter. He murmured a few lines, and then the curtain closed. The applause was deafening. There were screams and shouts and hoof-stomping heard throughout the auditorium. The director was raised on to the stage and the applause went from deafening to a sonic boom.

He levitated a microphone into the air and smiled, waiting for a hush. When it finally came, he cleared his throat. "This was, by far, the most difficult performance we at Manehattan High School have ever put on." A bit of applause echoed through the theatre. He smiled again. "I took a _BIG_ risk casting two ninth graders as the lead roles, Christian and Satine." A LOT of applause here. "I want to thank Ballad Bard and Thespian Moon for living up to my expectations. Without further ado… the cast." He took a bow, and everypony cheered and roared.

The minor roles were on first, and they got lots of applause. Then came the semi-large roles. Ingénue was with them. Finally, Ballad Bard and I came on. I bowed holding hooves with him, and we were cheered on so loudly I thought my ears would burst. The techies, set builders/painters, and costumists came on last – Stage Crew, Bright Light, Gears, Stunning Stitch – all the others.

It was truly the best night of my life.


	8. Of Fights and Faints

**HAPPY 2013, EVERYPONY! Almost Novi, here! Since it's officially January 1, 2013, I decided to reward all of my besties with a special update. This chappie is intense. Fight scene. I 3 Bob Dylan.**

** I'm feeling random. Uhm… pickles. **

** By the way, a nag is a term for a horse, especially one that is old or sickly. A gelding is a castrated male horse. I dunno. These were supposed to be super offensive terms in my story.**

**-Almost Novi**

**XXX**

I was in the bathroom when Glittering Flame cornered me. I'd been so wrapped up in acting, hanging out with Ballad and Solo, listening to Stunning gush about Gears, and just about everything else, that I hadn't thought of my old friends at all. Sure, we passed each other in the halls sometimes, but I didn't look at them, and they didn't look at me. There was a sort of unspoken pact there.

I was washing my hooves when I felt a soft tap on my shoulder. I turned. "Solo, hold on. I'm come-" The words died in my mouth, frozen. It was Glittering Flame! "Oh," I said. "Hi." I could've been mean… or disdainful, but I just couldn't. As much as I didn't want to talk to her, Glitters was still my old best friend. She was timid and sensitive, and I didn't want to give her a reason to hate me more.

She flicked her ears back, mumbling out a "Hi."

"What's up?" I asked cautiously, turning off the tap and sticking my hooves under the hoof dryer. When they were dry, I didn't have an excuse to stay in the bathroom any longer. I shuffled my hooves.

"You… you did really good in the play," she said quietly.

"Thanks," I said warily. I took in my ex-best friend. Her pale, cream-colored pelt, her braided orange mane and neat tail, her scared blue eyes, and her bright blue glasses. She looked so terrified and timid, just as she had the day in kindergarten when the cruel circle of ponies had surrounded her and Hopscotch, taunting them.

"You're welcome," she said. We stood there awkwardly for a minute. Finally, she squeaked out, "Hopscotch wanted to talk to you!" and ran away.

I walked out of the bathroom, shaking my head. _Crazy mare_, I thought. I checked the generic school clock on the wall and gasped: I had one minute to get to class! The halls were practically devoid of life, so I opened my wings and sped down the hall as fast as I could. I saw a black and white blur out of the corner of my eye, but ignored it. Suddenly though, it began galloping beside me. There was a heavy pounding of hooves, a flash of white mane and red eye, and then I felt a hoof grab my wing sharply. The blur that the halls had been screeched to a halt around me. I whipped around. "Who grabbed me?" I growled.

It was Hopscotch!

I tugged my wing away sharply and flew into the air a bit above the black unicorn. "What do_ you_ want?" I snorted. I remembered my anger at Hopscotch from the beginning of the year, and it fueled me.

"To talk to you," he said calmly. He used his magic to wrap an aura around me so I couldn't get away.

This infuriated me. "What?!" I snarled. "I need to get to class."

"Home Economics can wait," he said. "I really need to talk to you, Thespie."

"Don't call me that," I snapped.

"Fine. I really need to talk to you, _Thespian Moon_. Happy?"

"No! I need to get back to class!" I cried.

"Thespian, I want to make amends. I'm sorry for ragging on you at the beginning of the year. Acting is your passion, I get that. But… you could've paid a bit more attention to us. Did you know Glittering's parents got divorced a month ago, for example?" He sat me down.

I shook my head. "You haven't talked to me all year! How would I know?"

He glowered. "You could've at least checked in now and then."

"YOU NEVER EVEN LOOKED AT ME WHEN WE WERE IN THE HALLWAY! WHY WOULD I HAVE TALKED TO YOU?!" I shouted.

He pushed his nose against mine and glared. "You did the same thing," he said quietly.

"Don't try to lay all of this blame on me," I said with a scowl. I stared into his red eyes, unfazed. "Did you come to make amends or get angry at me?"

Something in those deep red orbs cracked. He had been calm and sincere before, if not a little antagonistic. But now… I could see all he wanted to do was scream at me. And that's what he did. "OH MY CELESTIA! LOOK EVERYPONY! HERE'S THESPIAN MOON, THE MOST SELF-ABSORBED MARE IN MANEHATTAN!"

"Shut. Up." I said this quietly.

"Why should I?" he asked nastily. He was quieter, though, so that was something. "You ditched us. You ditched us for your self-absorbed pals. But you know what, _Thespie_?" He jeered this, as if my nickname was a dirty curse he'd just learned. "I can see right through your little façade. You're just a mare with low self-esteem who relies on her little buddies to boost her up. You rely on them to say, 'Oh, you're so great!' Or: 'You're so much better than us!' You treat them like the doormats they are, and the worst part? They don't mind it! Solo Song?" He gave a laugh that sounded like a scoff. "She's your little crony, and she eggs you on. She tells you what you want to hear. Ballad Bard? Your _coltfriend_? Please," he laughed cruelly, "he's less of a colt than you are!"

This was all I could take. "You can insult me," I growled quietly, "but NOT my friends." With that, I flew into the air and tackled Hopscotch, punching him with my hooves. "You're a surly freak!" I screamed. "You just walk up to apologize and then you rip me to pieces! I! HATE! YOU!" With each word, my punches got harder.

"Get this crazy nag off me!" Hopscotch shouted.

"_NAG_?!" I shrieked. I pushed him up against the wall with one hoof and slugged him between the eyes with my other hoof. "You're such a… a… gelding!"

Hopscotch had yet to fight back, but at the offensive word, he knocked me to the ground and stomped on my gut so hard I gagged. "Take. That. Back." The words were like acid.

"No," I wheezed.

He grabbed me by my left wing and pushed his hoof down as hard as he could. I felt a pain like I'd never felt before. The delicate bones in my wing shattered like glass and blood began to pour from the mess of feathers, bones, and flesh. I shrieked loudly, and then let it elongate into a full-fledged scream. My wing was on _FIRE_. I whimpered like a dying animal, but kept staring at Hopscotch. "You," I gasped, "just went too far." Before I could exact some horrible revenge on him, he lunged foreword and took my ear in his teeth, pulling his head back. Blood began to drip out of my ear. "You just ripped part of my ear off," I said numbly. He returned the favor with my other ear. I noticed how tired and beat up he was looking, but knew he couldn't be feeling the pain I was. I _needed_ him to. My eyes zeroed in on his horn. I was surprised he hadn't used to that in the fight yet, but I wouldn't give him the chance to. I used my good wing to flap weakly into the air. "Hopscotch, you went too far," I repeated. "You broke my wing," – a spasm of pain here – "You ripped the tops of _both_ of my ears off," – I noted the blood pooling on the tile- "You stomped on me, and you called me a nag." I didn't even like the way the word felt in my mouth. Sour… mean. "You don't deserve to be a unicorn. They're a proud race, but you're just a horrible jerk. A _real_ gelding." With that, I brought back my back leg and kicked him in the horn as hard as I could. I heard a snap, and wasn't sure if it was my hoof bone or his horn. Judging by his screams and the black… thing… at my hooves, I decided it was his horn.

And that was when I blacked out.

**Author's Note: Oh, no! Poor Thespie! She's too impulsive. And Hopscotch… that jerk. DRAMA BOMB, in the words of Adventure Time's Lumpy Space Princess. Will she be okay? Will Hoppie be okay? The tragedy part of this story is coming up…. **


	9. Of Sneaking Out and Parties

**Here comes the tragedy part of the story, everypony! I know the last part of the story was super rushed, and I apologize. I'm not very good at writing fight scenes. I apologize for the repetition of Ingénue's line in chapter seven. Anywho, enjoy!**

** There are some more OCs in this chapter. Gears gets a "mane" part, and JackalFoxx's Cinder Gold is featured too. My dad's OC, Story Time, is coming up in the next chappie. **

**- Almost Novi**

**XXX**

Suddenly, it was summer… but I wasn't happy. I'd been grounded for months after my terrible fight with Hopscotch, and my parents had forbade me from doing the thing I loved most. They wouldn't let me try out for any plays, they took away all of my scripts, and we didn't even do our annual Starlet-Performer Family Summer Play Week. This was a tradition that had started before I was born – every summer for one straight week we would see as many plays as we could. We scrimped and saved for it all year, even though it wasn't too hard with my parent's earnings.

But… no. Not this year. My parents wouldn't even go by themselves, even though I told them I could handle myself at home. I had said, "Mom, Dad! It's like you're punishing yourselves, here!"

Dad had glared at me, his golden eyes narrowing. "Thespian Moon," he said through gritted teeth, "if we can't trust you to handle yourself at school, we certainly can't trust you to handle yourself at home."

My life was sucking. Our apartment, which usually felt airy and spacious and cozy, began to feel cramped. Since my left wing was broken, I couldn't even fly. It was bandaged and stuck to my side like glue. I couldn't have lifted it even if I wanted to, and if I did if would feel like a hot poker stuck into my side. My ears were heavy with bandages too, so it looked as if I was a Doberman who'd just gotten its ears clipped. The doctor had told me I couldn't flip my ears down, so I had to keep them straight up in the air.

Everything sucked.

I sighed, flipping through a magazine and sipping some orange juice. The magazine was about the newest fashions in Paris, Prance, and I honestly couldn't have cared less. Suddenly, I heard a soft fluttering at the window. I trotted over and peered outside. It was about one in the morning, and both of my parents were asleep. The sky was so dark that I couldn't see a thing. Suddenly, though a pair of bright blue eyes was staring into mine. I clapped a hoof over my mouth and squeaking in surprise. I opened the window softly and hissed, "_Ballad_?!"

He waved a hoof and winked. Solo flew in next to him, her golden eyes glinting in the moonlight. The siblings' gray pelts made them almost invisible in the moonlight, so they just looked like a pair of golden eyes with a floating blue mane and tail, and a pair of blue eyes with a floating purple mane and tail.

"What are you doing here?!" I whispered. "I'm grounded!" Of course, I ached to see them. Solo was my best friend, and I hadn't seen her since school had gotten out! And Ballad… well, you know that story. Solo Song flew inside, putting a hoof to her lips and swiveling her ears around. When she confirmed it was silent, she waved her brother in. She lifted my left front leg and Ballad lifted my right front leg. I was hanging awkwardly between them, but they were both careful of my wing.

Solo nuzzled me. "We missed you," she breathed.

I smiled. "Where are we going?" I murmured, knowing they'd come to break me out.

"On an adventure," Ballad said in barely a breath. We flew out of the apartment and into the night sky, shutting the window all but an inch so we would be able to get back in. I swung back and forth as the siblings carried me up to a cloud. When we were all settled on it, Ballad gave me a crushing hug. "I missed you so much!" he cried.

I shrieked in pain. "Ballad! Wing! _Wing_!" I screamed. He let me go and apologized for about three straight minutes until his sister bucked him off the cloud. I heard a cry, and then he flew back up to us, muttering, "Point taken."

"Where are we going for our adventure?" I asked exhilarated by the fact that I, Thespian Moon, age fourteen, was sneaking out for the first time. The stars shimmered as a cool breeze ruffled my mane. The lights of the city that never slept twinkled below us.

"To a cast party!" Solo said excitedly. "We're the only Pegasi, so we've been sent to retrieve you." She wouldn't tell me any more than that. She and Ballad lifted me again, and I hung between them like an oversized doll as we flew. I flapped my good wing, but it didn't do us much good.

We finally got to a big abandoned warehouse that I recognized. I'd flown past it a couple times. From the dingy, grimy windows I could see a pink light shining. Solo lifted me carefully on to Ballad's back and bucked at a giant door. It was made of steel and reinforced. The buck echoed loudly, and suddenly the door began grinding open slowly. It was coated in a green magic, and I could see that the pony using said magic was straining with it. Finally, though, it rumbled open. Gears stood there with one leg around Stunning Stitch and the other firmly planted on the ground.

"Hi!" I exclaimed excitedly, getting carefully off of Ballad's back. I wobbled over to Stunning and hugged her. I knocked hooves with Gears and grinned. "Thanks for getting me out of there… I was starting to go crazy. They took away my scripts!"

Solo Song gasped. "They _WHAT_?!" she shrieked, her wings flaring out with shock.

"I know," I said glumly.

"Well c'mon!" Gears said excitedly, tugging us all inside. The warehouse was massive! It could've easily held an entire hoofball stadium. The yawning entrance ground closed as Gears strained with the door. The cement floor was cool to the touch, and spanned on forever. Surprisingly, there was no machinery inside. The expanse was completely devoid of life except of all of my friends, a few ponies I didn't know, and some snacks and drinks.

I trotted over to them and high-hoofed Stage Crew, flank-checked Bright Light, and turned to a pony I didn't know. She was a brilliant golden color with bright blue eyes and a white mane and tail that were braided intricately. "Hi," I said with a smile, sticking out a hoof for her to shake. "I'm Thespian Moon."

She took my hoof politely and gave a small smile. "I'm Cinder Gold."

I took a look at her cutie mark, which was an anvil. "You're touch," I said with a grin, pointing to her cutie mark.

"I'm a forger," she said. "I help build the metal stuff for the plays." Now that she mentioned it, I recalled seeing a flash of gold and cream now and then in the metalwork class, but I'd never paid her much attention.

"Awesome to meet you," I said.

Cinder Gold gave me a radiant smile. She turned to Gears and Stunning, who seemed inseparable. That was a new development. "What're we doing?" she asked. "My dad is going to be angry when he finds out I took the train all the way here." She explained to me about how she lived on the very edge of Canterlot, and every morning very early she rode the train to Manehattan High. Money was short, so she wasn't allowed to ride the train anywhere else.

"It's summer," Gears pointed out.

"So?" Cinder Gold said. I could see she was getting a little annoyed. "Dad will notice the money gone even more now!"

Gears shrugged. "You didn't have to come," he said. Turning to the rest of us, he grinned. "Three of us are Earth ponies. Two are unicorns, and three are Pegasi." He gave me a pointed glance. "One of the Pegasi can't fly, so that makes four Earth ponies."

I stuck my tongue out.

"_ANY_way, since the Earth ponies outnumber us, I thought we could cater to them: We're having a seven-legged race!" He used his green magic to produce several pieces of rope. "Find a partner, everypony!" We all groaned and grumbled, but we were secretly smiling. I flank-checked Solo and grinned.

"Partner?" we said at the same time, and then cracked up in unison. Gears and Stunning obviously couldn't go anywhere without touching each other, so they got their front legs tied together. Ballad and Cinder Gold partnered up, and Bright Light and Stage Crew partnered. We all had out left front legs tied together, and then lined up side-by-side.

"No cheating!" Gears said in a scolding tone. And then added, "GO!" He took off with Stunning, and they moved as one fluid machine. They stuck the legs that were tied together out in front of them and ran on three legs. They were fast! A flash of pink and brown, going together perfectly. Solo and I ramped up the speed. We were a streak of gray and white. The cold concrete met my hooves and I jumped a little bit each time, as it was a freezing shock. Ballad and Cinder Gold seemed to have a bit of trouble. Ballad would start going fast, and the golden Earth pony would lag behind. When she went faster, Ballad was caught off-guard. In the end, Cinder Gold let out a cry and began galloping at full speed, practically dragging my coltfriend along. He began to gallop too, but was faster, and they both stumbled, tripping and falling in a heap of gray-and-gold pelts, and purple-and-white manes. Her braid flew into the air. Stage Crew whooped and leapt over the two, but Bright Light wasn't expecting it. Her white fur glinted in the moonlight as she tripped over a moaning Ballad. Her light blue mane flew into the air, and she did a backwards summersault, taking Stage with her.

I giggled. "C'mon, Solo!" I cried, feeling great. We both ran faster than I thought possible, and passed the glint of pink and brown. In the end, we reached the other side of the warehouse first. I collapsed in a heap and heaved until I got my breath back. Solo and I gloated and giggled, and the night wore on.

It was awesome.

XXX

I woke up in my own bedroom, remembering how awesome last night had been. I'd actually fallen asleep at the party, which had been a little embarrassing. The doctor HAD said that I shouldn't do too much strenuous activity, and I was tired. Ballad and Solo had carried me back to my house, tucking me into my bed and leaving a note that said,

_Hi! It's Solo! __**Uh… Ballad, too! **__Fine, it's both of us. __**That's better. I just wanted to say good night, my sleepy Thespie. **__This isn't a love letter, Bard. __**Don't call me that. **__Fine. ANYWAY, goodnight, Thespie! Hope you had fun! I sure did. __**Me too. **__Gears wanted us to tell you you'll be seeing more of that Earth pony with the braids, Cinder Gold. Apparently, she's one of our metalworkers now. __**Do plays even HAVE metalworkers? **__Well… now they do. Don't be rude, Ballad. I liked her. Just because you two fell over doesn't mean you shouldn't like her. __**I never said I didn't. (-.-) **__Don't write that face. It looks stupid. __**Not even acknowledging that comment. By the by… Gears and Stunning are an item now! Wow, I feel like a girl for saying that. Stunning wanted me to tell you that. **__She squealed a lot. __**Goodnight, sweet Thespie. **__Goodnight to my BFF!_

_**Love Ballad Bard. **__And Solo Song. _

I grinned when I read the letter and hugged it to my chest, putting it under my bed for safekeeping. I trotted out of my room to pour myself some cereal and get back to my room. My parents were still angry with me, so it was awkward. When I got outside, both of my parents were sitting at the table, their hooves folded and their brows creased. Mom looked like she had been crying. Dad had his powder-blue leg around her.

"Mom? Dad?" I asked. "What's going on?"

"Thespian Moon," my mom sniffed. "It's about…" She trailed off and began crying softly.

"Your old friend," my dad said, patting her back and taking over. "Hopscotch."

My good wing flared out and I gritted my teeth. "What about him?" I growled.

"He's dead."


	10. Of Sorrow

The bowl of cereal fell from my hoof and clattered to the floor. Milk landed in ivory puddles and soggy rings splattered down on the wooden floor. "Wh-what?" I stammered, my good wing drooping. Despite the doctor's orders, my ears slowly migrated down. "You're joking."

My mom flew over and took my white hooves in her purple ones. "Thespie, this wasn't your fault. You mustn't think that. It had nothing to do with the fight." She embraced me.

I sagged into her. "Then what was it?" I asked numbly.

"An accident," she murmured. "The stupidest accident. He went boating with his father, and fell off the boat. Since his front leg was broken, the cat weighed him down, and-"

I opened my mouth to let out a noise, but all that came out was a sob. I staggered back from my mother. "I'M A MURDERER!" I screamed. Tears poured down my face and I galloped to the door, wrenched it open, and ran down the thirteen flights to the lobby. On the fourth floor, though, my front hooves tangled and I went plummeting down the steps. I deserved the pain. I fell all the way to the lobby, got up shakily, and stumbled out the door. I swore to Celestia I heard Hopscotch galloping beside me as I ran down the sidewalks. I looked over and screamed, "GO AWAY, HOPSCOTCH! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY, OKAY?! IT'S MY FAULT YOU'RE DEAD!" I noticed the other ponies eyeing me weirdly. A muddy-colored filly with a strawberry-tinted Mohawk muttered something with a thick Bronx accent and trotted away fast. **(It's Babs. I love Babs so much.) **I flapped my good wing as hard as I could, and managed to get about four inches into the air. With my hooves scraping the sidewalk, I strained to stay in the air. Anything to distract myself. Finally, though, my wing spasmed and I collapsed on the sidewalk. Haughty ponies trampled me until I forced myself up. I numbly dragged myself to Ballad and Solo's apartment building and weakly lifted my hoof, clicking the button of apartment 117. I heard a quick buzz.

"Solo Song, here," Solo's voice said.  
"It's Thespie," I moaned. "Please… come down."

I could almost hear her nodding. "Got it. Me and Ballad are coming." A moment later, a window opened and the siblings flew outside. Their matching gray pelts blurred in front of my eyes as the tears fell. I could see them studying me, taking in the horrible state I was in. Matted mane and tail, broken wing and bandaged ears, my good wing with the feathers dirtied and trampled, bleeding hooves from the sidewalk-scraping, tears running down my cheeks, snotty muzzle, red eyes…. I was a sight.

"I'm a murderer," I said numbly.

Solo Song flew over to me, sharing a look with her brother. The two lifted me up like a foal and carried me to the closest cloud. I stood on the downy surface for a moment, looking at the two with my big orange eyes. Then I collapsed into a heap.

I felt two pairs of legs wrap around me, and looked over. Both Solo and Ballad were hugging me. "Hopscotch is dead," I whispered. Through sobs and hiccups, I managed to relate the story. I pictured him, his white mane soaked and his black pelt shining like ink. His red eyes would be scared and wide, maybe rolling back in his head. He would be flailing at the water until it filled his lungs and he sank to the bottom-

"Thespie," Ballad said softly. He put a hoof under my chin and lifted it so I was facing him. I was reminded of the night in ninth grade when the director had reamed me so. The hot summer sun glittered off of his purple mane, and suddenly all I could see was Ballad. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is," I whispered.

Solo Song took my front hooves and flew into the air, almost as if she was dancing with me. "Thespian Moon. It was not your fault," she said, repeating what her brother had just said.

"It is, it is," I mumbled, noticing how the two were unfazed. Maybe they already knew. "He could never swim well."

"That's just it!" Solo cried, her ears sticking up. "He would've drowned anyway, whether his leg was broken or not!" Realizing how blunt her words were, she let go of my hooves and gently set me down. "Thespie, you can't think this is your fault."

I realized that she was right, but couldn't bring myself to say it. Instead, I sat down on the cloud and put my head on my hooves. I felt Ballad Bard pat my head gently and then heard him whisper, "We should give her some time alone." The two flapped off softly, and I let the darkness surround me.

XXX

_"Hey, kid." Hopscotch stood in front of me, his black pelt blending in with the night. His white mane stood out, glowing in the moonlight. His red eyes shone. _

_ "Hopscotch?" I breathed. I got to my feet. His horn was intact, and his legs weren't broken. I noticed that my ears weren't bandaged. They were whole and my wing was unbroken. _

_ "It's me," he said with a smile. _

_ "But… you're dead," I whispered. I flapped into the air, circling around him. "How are you here?"_

_ "It's a dream, silly-filly," he said in a soft voice. "How are you, Thespian Moon?"_

_ "I'm okay," I mumbled. "You… you should call me Thespie. Everypony does." There was a pause. He gave me a gentle smile and I bit my lip. "Hopscotch… I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was so wrong." I flew toward him and hugged him as hard as I could. "Oh, Hoppy," I whispered, using the nickname we'd abandoned in second grade. "Oh, Hoppy. If I could see you alive one more time."_

_ "I'm afraid that won't happen," he said, hugging me back. With our intertwined front legs, we looked like a white and black sea. "But I'm here to say this wasn't your fault. Okay?"_

_ "It was, though," I muttered._

_ "No," he said, tilting my chin up much like Ballad Bard had. He kept one front leg around me. "It wasn't." His red eyes blazed._

_ "Okay," I whispered. _

_ "I forgive you," he said seriously. "And I want to apologize, too. Your wing and your ears."_

_ "Don't mention a thing," I said with a cautious smile. "Your horn and your leg."_

_ "Don't mention a thing," he repeated with a wink. We embraced again. "Thespie, I only have a little bit more time. But… I need to tell you something."_

_ "What?" I whispered. _

_ "I was always-" He stopped. "Let's start with this first: Gingerbread is in love with your friend Solo Song. I'm sorry about what I said about her, by the way. You have to tell her that. And tell Ballad Bard I'm sorry about what I said too. Anyway, though, you have to get Gingerbread and Solo Song together. Promise me that, okay? That's all I'm asking."_

_ I nodded with a smile. "Okay," I giggled. "Gingerbread and Solo, huh? They'd work." I rubbed my chin. "Yeah, that would work."_

_ He grinned. "And… I have to go soon. But… I need to tell you something. It won't make any difference now, but I need you to know." He took a deep breath. "I've always been in love with you." _

_ I laid my ears back and stuck my wings to my sides. "W-wow," I stammered. "Hoppy, I…. Thank you." I couldn't say much else. _

_ "I have to know, did you ever love me back?"_

_ I knew it would be the biggest infraction to lie to him, so I closed my eyes and murmured, "No."_

_ He nodded. "That's okay. I miss you, Thespie. I forgive you, okay? And… I'm sorry." With that, he hugged me. I closed my eyes and when I opened them a black mist was swirling around me. _


	11. Author's Note Number One

**How do, everypony? So, I need your input. Would you like me to do a little unrelated one-shot with Thespie X Hopscotch? I've been thinking about that. What do you like better, Thespie X Hopscotch or Thespie X Ballad Bard? **


	12. Unrelated ThespieScotch One-shot

**Well, everypony… you've spoken. Here's the ThespieScotch story I promised. Ha-ha. Here's my current acting news: Well, the cast list for my play went up. Since I was in Manhattan while the auditions were going on I was cast as a Towns Person. -.-' But… my friend can't be in the play after all, so I got her role! It's not a big one, but better than nothing. I got cast as a man… *Falls out of chair laughing***

** Enjoy! This story is in Hop's POV, so it's not like Thespie is describing herself. :) **

** By the way, Thespie is sportier in this chapter than actress-y. **

** By the way, I copied and pasted the paragraph from **_**The Black Cat**_** in here, so the grammar mistakes are not of my own, but of a time period. Edgar Allen Poe 3 **

**-Novi**

**XXX**

I trotted down the hall, levitating my scuffed backpack in the air with an aura of black magic. The students rushed by me like a river – galloping, skipping, cantering, and the especially reluctant ones dragging their hooves. A Pegasus lifted his Earth pony marefriend into the air and spun her around, both of them giggling like little foals. A pair of freshman unicorn fillies peeked at me from behind their gaudy manes, whispering and tittering. I rolled my eyes. _Yes, girls_, I wanted to say. _ I look a bit odd – I get that. Yeah, yeah. _I never quite know if ponies like that are laughing at me because of how I look or if because they find me attractive.

A big brown Pegasus with a dark mane that covered his eyes knocked into me. "Outta my way, Granny!" he bellowed.

I turned and glared at him, my temper rising. "Hey!" I said.

"What?" the Pegasus asked, utterly confused. It was as if he had no idea what he had done.

"Watch where you're going next time, basketball-for-brains," I growled.

The big pony, whose name was Hoops, blew air out of his nostrils like a bull. His wings flared out, and he looked like he was ready to clobber me. I didn't mention the fact that he had knocked into me in the first place. I just let him look like an angry seagull. "You wanna go, Granny?" he snarled.

"It's. Hopscotch." I blew a strand of white hair out of my eyes. I could practically feel my mane standing on end. "And no, I don't wanna 'go.' I want to get to class, and I want you to watch where you're going next time." With that, I trotted away. I knew he wouldn't let me get away with what I said, calling him 'basketball-for-brains.' I was beginning to regret it slightly. I felt a soft tap on my shoulder, and turned. I was met with a coco-brown fist right in my muzzle. "Oh!" I cried out, clutching my muzzle. "Hoops!"

"Hoops!" he mimicked, going nasal. He chuckled at himself, and eyed the gathering crowd around us. At least… I think he eyed them. I couldn't quite tell since his mane was covering his eyes. "You a coltcuddler, Granny?" he sneered. "You're as pansy as one!"

I rolled my eyes. "My name is Hopscotch," I said. "And no, I'm not a coltcuddler."

He blew his mane out of his eyes and I caught a brief flash of blue iris. "Oh, yeah? You sure?"

I nodded and continued to walk down the hall, pushing through the gathering circle of ponies. The freshman fillies who had giggled at me were among them. "Outta my way!" I snarled, and shoved one of them. I know I shouldn't have, but I was angry. She gasped indignantly and then whispered something about me.

"Oh, so now ya push innocent fillies?" Hoops said. "Man, Granny. Low blow."

With that, I flipped. I put my backpack down with my magic and lifted Hoops into the air. He began flailing his big, bulky limbs and blew his mane out of his eyes. "Hey, Granny! Put me down!" he barked.

"No," I said quietly. "You punched me, remember, Hoops? You also accused me of being a coltcuddler, called me 'Granny,' and called me a pansy. I suppose I'm entitled to a bit revenge myself, now aren't I, Hoops?" From the blank look in his eyes – and this was the first time I could properly see both of them- I guessed he didn't understand. It wasn't my fault, of course. I'm a jock _and_ a brain. You_ can_ be both, you know.

"Uh… yes?" he asked uncertainly.

I chuckled, prompting a nervous titter from the crowd. "I suggest you get the basketball out of your brain and your brain out of your butt and listen up," I suggested.

_That_ he did understand. He scrambled in the aura of black magic, trying to reach for me. He growled a barrage of cuss words and insults, including the fact that I couldn't properly swear. I dodged a big tan hoof and levitated him up to the ceiling so fast he hit his head. "Maybe now you'll jar that brain of yours into thinking for once," I snorted. He rubbed his head, muttering.

"Granny, put me down!" he shouted.

I shook my head. "Apologize, Hoops."

"NO!" he said firmly.

"Guess I'll just have to drag you to all of my classes, then. And home, too," I said with a shrug. "Wow, looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other, Hoopie, my boy." At the nickname, he flushed bright scarlet and shouted another string of obscenities. I laughed. "Ready to say sorry?" He shook his head, and I slammed him into the ground. For the briefest of seconds, my horn malfunctioned, and the aura flickered. Well, that was all the basketball-loving brute could handle. He flapped his big wings and half-crawled half-flew his way over to me. The only thing I could manage before me was on top of me was: "Uh-oh."

He wailed on me with his big, blocky hooves. I cried out, and bucked him off me. He slammed into a row of lockers, and ponies scattered. "Say you're sorry!" I screamed.

He galloped back over, roaring, "NEVER, GRANNY!"

I lowered my head and leveled my horn with his chest. As he barreled over to me, he crashed full-on into my horn, letting out a loud holler. He staggered back, his front hooves clapped over his chest. "You stabbed me!" he cried.

I rolled my eyes. "Drama queen," I growled, but in truth my horn hurt like mad. Suddenly… time seemed to stop. A wintery-white Pegasus landed softly in between us. It was _her_. Her long sea-foam tail brushed the ground, and her short shock of a mane ended, curling around her ears. Her burnt-orange eyes locked on my red ones.

"Stop fighting," she said forcefully. The cutie mark on her flank – two masks, one bawling and the other laughing – told of her special talent. She flapped into the air, grabbing me by my horn and Hoops by his mane. I yelped with pain and Hoops barked out in anger. "How old are you two, ten?" she said with a glare.

I tucked my tail in between my legs and flushed. "No," I mumbled, almost feeling like I should have added "ma'am" to the end of my sentence.

She seemed to have the same effect she had on me on Hoops. He growled a nasty name under his breath, but didn't try to kill me or her. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered.

She let go of my horn and I stumbled back a little. I heard her scold Hoops some more, while I blushed on and on. The tardy bell rang, and we all scurried to class. She flapped next to me as I galloped towards English. "Hopscotch, right?" she said.

I nodded as I nearly exploded. There she was. Right next to me. Carrying on a conversation with me!

"I'm Thespian Moon," she said.

I wanted to say, "I know. I've been madly in love with you since sixth grade." I didn't, of course. I just muttered, "Hi."

"Don't talk much, huh, Hopscotch?"

I shrugged, putting a hoof on the door and turning the knob for class. We walked in together and took the last two empty seats in class. I ended up sitting next to my best friend, a colt named Gingerbread. Long black mane, brown pelt, big blue eyes. He shot me a questioning glance and I waved him off with my hoof, turning my attention to the teacher. He prattled on about Edgar Allen Poeny, and how we should all consider ourselves lucky enough to read his great works. I levitated my copy of _The Black Cat_ out of my bag, and opened it to the first page. We'd gotten the books yesterday at the end of class, and were told not to start them until the next day. The teacher began to read aloud in a grim, haunting voice about a black cat named Pluto. I was completely engrossed, and the only time I looked up was to look at _her_ – Thespian Moon.

She had the book pulled up to her muzzle, and appeared to be going slightly cross-eyed from the level of intensity with which she was reading. Even under the crappy classroom lighting, her fur shone like snow in the moonlight. _Celestia, she's beautiful_, I thought.

Suddenly, the teacher's voice rose to a crescendo: " 'But may God shield and deliver me from the fangs of the Arch-Fiend! No sooner had the reverberation of my blows sunk into silence, than I was answered by a voice from within the tomb! - by a cry, at first muffled and broken, like the sobbing of a child, and then quickly swelling into one long, loud, and continuous scream, utterly anomalous and inhuman - a howl - a wailing shriek, half of horror and half of triumph, such as might have arisen only out of hell, conjointly from the throats of the dammed in their agony and of the demons that exult in the damnation.' "

His voice was loud and booming, but chilling to my very core. I shivered, and I noticed Thespian Moon had her deep orange eyes locked on the teacher. Her wings were unfurled, and she looked like she was about to fly around with excitement. The teacher finished the story, shouting the last word and causing the entire to class to jump. One Earth pony even fell out of his chair. I was the first to laugh, and then we all erupted into good-natured chuckling. While the entire class was laughing – even the teacher – I seemed to have an epiphany. Thespian Moon looked so sweet when she laughed, and I wished she would laugh at something_ I_ said! _But… maybe I could get her to laugh. Maybe… maybe I could try to woo her. _I nodded at myself.

Let the wooing begin.

XXX

The next day, I was her in front of the school. I took a deep breath and trotted over to her. "Thespian Moon?" I said.  
"Oh, hey, Hopscotch," she said with a smile. "You _do_ talk."

I smiled back shyly. "I talk quite a lot," I managed to muster out.

She giggled. "Apparently you fight a lot too." She turned serious. "Why were you fighting with Hoops, yesterday? What if a teacher had seen you? That was really stupid."

I shrugged. "He shoved me."

"Hmm… one-sentence answers," she said dryly. "Nice."

"This is NOT going well," I muttered. Realizing I had said it aloud, I blushed. "Um… I didn't say that."

She cracked a small smile and raised her eyebrow. "Two sentences. There you go, you're getting better." A bell clanged within the school, and we all began to move inside. "Bye, Hop!" she called, flying inside the building.

_Hop._

"She gave me a nickname," I breathed, practically skipping towards my math class. While we divided negative fractions, she was all I could think of… as usual. I actually managed to buckle down my brain and finish the worksheet early, levitating it up to the front of the class. We got our homework, and then went on to PE. _She's in your PE class_, I reminded myself. She managed to pull off the T-shirt and shorts combo that we all had to wear for the class. Sighing, I levitated a ball with my magic and sent it towards her. _Maybe if I get her out, I can get out next and then we can talk! _was my brilliant plan. The ball smacked her in the wing, and she frowned, but seeing it was me who had gotten her out, gave a little smile. From then on, I went out of my way to jump in front of somepony whenever a ball came towards them. On my thirteenth try, the ball got impaled on my horn and popped, which ended the game entirely and the PE teacher just made us run laps. As I galloped, she flew in next to me, not even breaking a sweat.

"So we meet again, Hop," she said with a grin.

I heaved out a breath and smiled. "So we do," I managed, putting on an extra burst of speed. On a random whim, I added, "Race you!" The shiny gym floor began to pass under my hooves faster, and I could hear them pounding. She was left behind for only a moment when she flew back next to me, landing on her hooves and beginning to run.

"Let's make this fair!" she cried excitedly. "No wings for me and no magic for you, Hop!" She didn't seem to run out of breath as she talked, even while putting all of her effort into running. Her snow-white hooves crashed into the slick floor, meeting with my own hooves. Black legs, but white hooves. **(You know how Big Macintosh has tan-tipped hooves and Shining Armor has blue-tipped hooves? Think like that, but Hop's are white.) **White and white together, creating a blur and a resounding pounding. But soon, her hooves overtook mine, and they were farther and farther away until… she passed me again. "Lapped you!" she giggled.

I forced a smile as she dashed off without breaking a sweat. My sides were beginning to sweat like mad and breath was harder and harder to get. I felt like one of my lungs was about to pop, but on I forged. It felt like somepony was sticking a hot poker into my side and twisting it around. Thespian Moon lapped me again, but this time stopped and slowed down to my speed.

"Hop?" she said uncertainly. "Um… we can call the race off, if you want."

"No," I grunted.

"Hop, you're turning blue!" she said with rising agitation.

"I'm… fine," I gasped.

"No… you're not," she said with a shake of her head, and shoved me on to the sidelines. The minute I stopped running, I collapsed into a heap and heaved for breath. I felt like my chest was doing a death rattle. Slowly, slowly, the hot poker-sensation began to ebb, and my lungs felt normal again. "Your color is back to normal," Thespian Moon said with a relived smile. "Thank Celestia. I thought you were gonna explode." She patted me on the head and giggled.

I smiled. "Thanks. Guess I took the race a little too seriously." For once, I felt my throat unlock when I was around her. The other ponies kept running, and we sat side by side, watching them. The PE teacher was in his office on the phone, and nopony seemed to be noticing us. I locked on to the burnt-orange eyes. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" I said.

She gave a cheeky smile and nodded, flapping into the air. "Shall we?"

I got to my hooves we walked – and flew – over to the emergency exit. I casted a quick spell to stop the alarm from screaming, and we pushed open the door and were free. "Where to?" I asked, going back to my one-sentence way of speaking. _Let me remind you_, my brain said, _you're ditching school with Thespian Moon. THESPIAN MOON! _I smiled. _Hey. Bet you're gonna mess everything up_, my brain whispered. "Shut up," I growled quietly to myself.

Thespian Moon didn't hear me, and scanned the skies. "How about on a flight?" she suggested.

I shook my head slowly. "No wings, here."

She motioned over to my horn. "That's what that's for," she said, and I cast a quick spell, levitating myself up in the air. "Your magic is black," she noted softly, and began to fly into the air. I levitated myself a little higher, and laughed. She giggled too, taking my hooves in her own and spinning me around.

I levitated myself closer to her, so that our muzzles bumped. She giggled and smiled. "You know who would love you?" she said suddenly.

I went slack-jawed. "Who?"

"My coltfriend, Ballad Bard."

"Oh…" I said softly. "Uh… I have to… uh… go." With that, I sped back down to Earth, over the school, and back to my house. I brought back my hoof and punched the wall as hard as I could, letting out a scream.

You know what they say… the Moon is a slippery thing, and Thespians' only love is their acting.

"And Ballad Bard," I groaned.


	13. Of Tenth Grade and Deaf Ponies

**Hi, everypony! 57 reviews on a simple OC story?! I feel honored! I really want to thank Emmo13, Shado Room of Souls, Krushnazag, JackalFoxx, and Paint Splat. Each and every one of you is continuously following my stories and I feel special! *Clasps hoof to chest* Also, there's a new fan of "Of Actresses and Sorrow." His name is ****fungusbrain1****. ****Anyway, I'm glad you all liked my random ThespieScotch one-shot. =-) So, here's chapter 13! 13 is my lucky number, so this chappie should be good. I'm introducing the OC Shimmering Gown, courtesy of Shado. She has a mane like Sweetie Belle's, which is a mix of magenta and yellow. She has a deep blue pelt, and she's a unicorn. Shimmering Gown is deaf, but perfectly capable of working on dresses, which is her passion. She is Stunning Stitch's sister. Okay, BTW… I just wanted to do a little review on what the characters looked like. So, Stage Crew is a sea-green Earth pony with golden eyes and a black mane. He's big and blocky. He helps out backstage mostly, and it's his special talent. He's in charge of all backstage business. Bright Light is Stage Crew's assistant. She's a white Earth pony with a blue mane. She loves working on the lighting. Solo Song is the younger sibling of Ballad Bard. She's a gray Pegasus with golden eyes and a blue mane. Her special talent is singing, and she's often casted as one of the main rolls. She Thespie's best friend. Ballad Bard is a gray Pegasus with blue eyes and a purple mane. He is Thespie's boyfriend, the brother of Solo Song, and often casted as a male romantic lead. Cinder Gold is a golden Earth pony with a white braided mane and tail. She is a metalworker, and designs the skeletons of the large props. Stunning Stitch is a pink unicorn with jewel-blue eyes and a scarlet mane. She is the girlfriend of Gears and the sister of Glimmering Gown. She is the main costumist and Thespie's other best friend. The last pony in the Theatre Group is Gears, another member of the stage crew. He is a brown unicorn with a black mane, and Stunning Stitch's boyfriend. **

**XXX**

And so time went on. I mourned Hopscotch day and night, but what could I do? Bring him back? Like that would happen! I was determined to bring Solo and Gingerbread together, even if I died trying. My parents immediately revoked my grounding, and the summer passed. I spent most of it alone, mourning and trying to figure out how to face my friends, especially Gingerbread and Glittering Flame. Before I knew it, it was the first day of tenth grade.

I flexed my recently-healed wing and reached a hoof up to my newly-torn ears. The doctor had informed me they would never grow back. I took a deep breath. "You're an actress, Thespie," I said softly. "You can handle anything." I flew out of my apartment building, holding my saddlebags in my hooves and met up with Solo and Ballad.

"Excited?" Ballad asked. "I sure am." He wrapped a front leg around me and kissed me on the cheek. "I haven't seen you since the funeral." His blue eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay, Thespie?"

I smiled. "I'm alright, Ballad. I'm just ready to leave this whole thing behind me." I leaned in, whispering, "First, though, I have to bring Gingerbread and Solo together like we talked about."

Ballad shrugged. "I dunno, Thespie. Have you ever thought that it might've been just a dream?"

I gave him a death glare. "Hop had _one_ _last_ demand."

He sighed. "Okay, Thes. Whatever you-"

"Hey!" Solo interrupted us. "Get a room, you two! C'mere, Thespie!" We flew over to each other and hugged hard. "I missed you like crazy," she said, holding me out at leg's length and appraising me. "Are you okay?"

I nodded, and felt myself tearing up a little. "Yeah," I said quietly. I hugged her again. "I'm fine, Solo." We flew for a while in silence, watching the Earth ponies and unicorns jostle their way on the streets. For the millionth time, I felt lucky to be a Pegasus. The streets were crowded with our wingless cousins, their hooves pounding into the sidewalk. "Hey, Solo?" I said, figuring now as good a time as any. "What do you think of Gingerbread?"

Her gray cheeks immediately heated. "Um… Gingerbread? W-wow, y-you haven't mentioned that son of a gun in a while. Er… he's alright. Why do you ask?"

I tapped my chin thoughtfully before answering. The few times that Ballad and I had hung out over the summer Solo hadn't been there. It had only been about twice since Hopscotch's death, so I knew I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but I began to wonder. She'd never shown any signs of liking Gingerbread before, and even seemed to dislike him whenever I talked about my old friend group. _Then again_,I thought, _we're actresses. She's trained to hide her real emotions on stage. _"You were… you're having trysts with him!" I cried suddenly. I knew that if I shocked her enough she might spill something.

"What?" she said, flicking her tail incredulously. Her previous blush was gone. I must've shocked her in the beginning with my mention of Gingerbread, and now she was steeled. "Trysts?" She gave a snort. "If I'm having trysts with Gingerbread you're a mongoose."

I rolled my eyes. "Ha, ha. Whatever, Solo." We flew for a while in silence. When we finally reached our school, it seemed bigger than ever. The massive brick building yawned on and on. I gripped Solo's hoof. "Somehow, this is scarier than when we were freshman," I gulped.

Ballad grabbed my other hoof. "No, sweat, Thespie," he said with a sweet grin.

Solo ruffled my mane and shrugged. "I dunno. Everypony hates sophomores. They tolerate freshmen, hate sophomores, leave the juniors alone, and respect the seniors. That's how it goes. Prepare for hazing beyond belief!" she laughed, not looking nervous at all.

Oh, boy. We flew into the school and to our separate classes. The new freshman looked terrified, except for a unicorn mare with a midnight blue pelt, curly magenta-and-yellow mane, and big pale blue eyes. Her cutie mark was a shimmering swatch of pink fabric. _Hmm, _I thought. _Another seamstress. We'll have to see if we can recruit her. _I flew to my locker, trying to remember the combination. After a few minutes, I got it right, grabbed my English textbooks, and slammed it shut. In English class, the teacher began to lecture us about how tenth grade was different than ninth grade, and it wasn't going to be fun at all. I couldn't wait for lunch.

At the lunch table, I surveyed all of my friends. Gears and Stunning Stitch were linked at the hip, as usual. She was twisting his inky black mane around her pink hoof, and whispering something in his ear. After being repeatedly told to get a room, they untwined themselves and laughed with the rest of us. Bright Light and Stage Crew were having a debate on whether gels were the best kinds of lenses to use. He banged down a heavy sea-green hoof on the table, snarling, "Gels!" She put her white hoof on top of his and snapped at him. I felt something click in my brain.

"So, the Theatre Group is coupling up," I observed. Seeing the confused looks of the others, I elaborated. "Me and Ballad, Gears and Stunning, and it appears that the backstage help is having a lover's spat." I raised my eyebrows at Stage Crew and Bright Light.

Bright Light blushed and removed her hoof. "Um… I don't know what you're talking about, Thespie."

Stage Crew frowned at the table. "May as well make it public," he said with a shrug. With that, he yelped, "I'M DATING BRIGHT LIGHT!" Everyone stared at him, including the ponies from other grades.

Bright Light facehoofed. "Way to be subtle," she growled.

I smirked lightly. "Point proven."

Lunch went on normally. Cinder Gold and Solo talked about Cinder's home life, and suddenly Stunning interrupted. "Hey guys? My little sister is a freshman this year, and Mom told me I needed to include her. She doesn't really have any friends."

"What's her name?" Cinder Gold asked, picking up a leather cord and quickly braiding her mane, then tying it with the cord.

"Shimmering Gown," Stunning said. "She's dark blue. Curly mane? Kinda magenta and yellow?"

"I saw her!" I said. "She was the only freshman who didn't look terrified."

Stunning smiled. "Yep, that's my sis."

Gears ran a hoof through her scarlet mane. "You two sound like you look nothing alike."

Stunning shrugged. "There's one more thing I need to tell you. She de-"

Just then, the midnight blue unicorn came galloping up. She waved to Stunning, and then very carefully and deliberately said, "I am Glimmering Gown. Call me Glimmers. I'm deaf."

I should have been paying attention, I know, but the only thing I could see was that Solo had sneakily flown away and was kissing Gingerbread in a corner of the cafeteria.


	14. Of Friendships Rekindled

**Sorry for not updating sooner, everypony! Almost Novi here. 62 reviews?! God, you people make me feel special. I really want to thank all of you Little Lovelies. You are the only reason I continue this story. From the bottom of my FanFic-obsessed heart, THANK YOU! Well, I'm glad that Glimmering Gown received a good reception. Um… why did I call her Shimmering AND Glimmering Gown? I dunno. Thanks to Shado who pointed it out! *Sheepish grin* Well, I would make excuses about how I'm in a play and I have practices and I kept seeing**_** Grease**_** over and over at the local high school (It's over now, and I feel very let down) and I have a thousand years of homework and that's why I'm not updating, but I won't say a thing. (Even though I just did. Heh.)**

** By the way, I have a top hat now! JackalFoxx, everypony's favorite top hat-clad foxx, has given me his hat! I'm gonna give it back in a couple chapters, don't worry! :3 *Doffs top hat***

**My Sincerest Regards,**

**-Almost Novi**

**XXX**

My mouth fell open. "Oh… my… Celestia," I uttered. "I was right. I was _right_!" I grabbed Ballad by the shoulders and shook him as hard as I could. His purple mane flopped around and he shoved me away.

"Jeez, Thespie!" he cried as I fell back against Stunning. "_What_?!"

I was so shocked and excited I couldn't even be offended. I looked around our round cafeteria table, catching everypony's eyes. Stunning next to me, then Gears, Cinder Gold, Solo's empty spot, Glimmers, Stage, and Bright Light. I swept my eyes back to Ballad. "Look… behind you," I whispered. In unison, we all turned out heads. A white-pink-brown-golden-royal blue-sea-green-white-and-gray wave. Our eyes collectively widened to Solo wrapped around Gingerbread at a table in the corner.

Finally, Glimmers loudly asked, "What?" She shrugged. "They're just kissing, right?"

Stunning signed something with her hooves. Just to get the point across, she mouthed, "SHUT UP." Her horn lit up with her usual pale pink magic and she slowly raised a milk carton. It floated across the cafeteria, bobbing in the air until it was just above Solo and Gingerbread. Suddenly, the carton exploded violently, splashing Gingerbread and Solo with soggy white liquid. Solo shrieked and pulled away from the brown Earth pony. Gingerbread let out a deep, surprised cry and looked around. He saw the exploded milk carton and Stunning's blank face and still-glowing horn.

With that, he snorted and stomped over to us. His bright green eyes burned with anger and embarrassment. "Which one of you did that?!" he snapped. I could practically see flames rising from his dark brown pelt. He flashed his rage-filled eyes to me. "Did you do that, Thespian Moon?" he snarled.

I held up my hooves in front of me in the universal gesture of: _Hey, don't look at me. I have nothing to do with this. I'm innocent! _

He frowned, turning to Stunning. Her horn was still glowing pale pink. She completely ignored the fuming Earth pony in front of her and levitated Solo into the air. She sped the gray Pegasus over to us and finally cried, "WHAT?!"

Solo Song squirmed. Her cheeks were burning scarlet. "Er…"

I expected to feel betrayed, but instead I felt surprisingly light. I was a little sad that Solo had lied to me, but at the same time I was quite glad she'd found somepony to love. I smiled lightly. "Put her down, Stunning," I said.

Stunning complied with a strange look.

Solo scratched a gray hoof on the white tiling of the cafeteria floor and I could see her cheeks burning. I felt a strange rush of empathy. She had lied to us, but I could see how mortified she was. Her mane was soggy, hanging down in limp stands around her ears. Her cheeks were continually red, and the whole cafeteria was staring at her. I flew over to her, tugging her out of the cafeteria. We trotted up the steps and into the hall, then into the bathroom. She was silent the whole way. I turned on the tap until the water was hot and wet some paper towels, trying to wash the milk out of her mane. I finally just shoved her head under the tap until all of the milk was gone from the fur and mane. She stood there dripping wet for a moment, and then began to cry. Fat tears leaked out of her watery golden eyes. She sniffed and let out a sob.

"Oh, Solo," I murmured, trotting over to her and wrapping my front legs around her. We sat, hugging on the freshly polished tile of the bathroom, the cheap florescent lighting burning down on us. She sobbed into my shoulder, her hooves digging into my back.

"I-I-I've n-never been so em-b-b-barressed!" she shrieked. "M-my first d-day of tenth gr-grade and…"

I patted her back awkwardly. I felt oddly guilty. "Ah, Solo," I mumbled. "I'm sorry. That wasn't my idea, I promise. But… why lie?"

She sniffed. "Y-you just got so mad whenever one of us mentioned Gingerbread. I was scared that if you knew about us you wouldn't want to be my friend." She had stopped stammering, and began wiping her tears away. "It was just so hard to see you with Ballad day after day. I mean… I know you're my best friend and all, and I know he's my big brother, but seeing you two together all the time… I just felt like a fifth leg, you know?" She gave me a bitter smile. "The three of us were together all the time, but sometimes I felt like I was in a bubble looking at the two of you."

I felt a pang of guilt. "Oh, Solo," I said. "Why didn't you say something? I never would have guessed you felt-"

"We're actresses, remember?" she said with a wry smile. "Good at hiding our emotions."

I tugged at my tail and frowned. "I'm sorry."

She smiled. "It wasn't just you, Thespie. Don't worry. It was seeing Gears and Stunning. It was seeing Bright Light and Stage Crew always flirting. It was seeing all those couples all over the school. I was lonely. But when I met Gingy… I wasn't."

I snorted. "_Gingy_?" I smirked.

She giggled. "A nickname. He calls me Song."

"Ginger Song!" I squealed, giggling. "That's what you can name your foal!"

She slapped my hoof, giggling to herself and blushing. "One day when you and Ballad were hanging out this summer, I just couldn't take it. I flew out the window. I flew for a really long time, all over Manehattan. I saw all of these ponies being so happy with each other, and I just felt so lonely. But then… I saw Gingy – er… Gingerbread – on the street. And we started talking. And… we agreed to meet the next day."

"And you certainly met," I said, raising my eyebrows. "You met today at least. Make out meet!" I giggled, tackling my best friend in a hug.

It was good to have her back


	15. Of Romantic Fluff and New Plays

**Sorry for the hiatus, Little Lovelies! I'm falling out of the pony fandom for the time being, but that doesn't mean I'm not updating my stories! I owe it to all of you! This is one of my favorite stories, and the reviews are what keep me writing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! For this chapter, I decided to do a little ThespieBard fluff. I realize that they're together, but they never have many cute, coupley interactions. So… without further ado: **

**My Sincerest Regards,**

**-Almost an Actress (Novi)**

**XXX**

The next week or so passed in a blur. We all got used to tenth grade. The classes were harder, and we had a bit more homework than before, but it wasn't all that different. On the second week, I was itching to do theatre. I hadn't done it all summer for obvious reasons, and I knew without practice I would get rusty. Besides, now that I saw fifteen, I could do a lot more plays with older and more mature characters. Ballad had turned sixteen in the summer – I'd missed his birthday – so he was in the same boat I was. One day after school, the whole Theatre Group met in the park for some much needed stress relief.

Stage Crew gave a massive yawn. "So glad that we're relaxing for once," he said with a grin. "All this homework has me goin' crazy."

Bright Light gave me a sly wink and sidled up to him, bumping her flank against his. "Sure that the homework isn't the _only_ thing making you crazy?" she purred.

Stage blushed and mumbled something about crazy mares.

I chuckled and looked over at Solo, rolling my eyes. I stuck a hoof in my mouth and mimed barfing. Ever since those two had gotten together, they'd been practicing flirting, and it was so syrupy sweet I was drowning. Stunning was too enthralled with Gears to object, so Solo and I were alone in our lamenting. Gingerbread and Ballad had become uneasy friends, and were sitting on the picnic blanket making small talk. Apparently they had just found something they had in common, because they began dying of laughter.

"Watch out," Solo said dryly. "Our coltfriends will end up getting married before we do."

I giggled and turned to look at Cinder Gold. She seemed to have stuck up a sort of friendship with Glimmers, and the latter was teaching the former how to speak sign language. It turned out she could talk because she had gradually gone deaf instead of being born that way. We didn't know exactly how, but Stunning vaguely mentioned an accident of some sort. Glimmers bent her left hoof and swished her right in the air. Cinder mimicked it. Glimmers giggled and slapped Cinder on the back. "Nice!" she said loudly. I could've sworn I saw Cinder blush…

I looked back to Ballad and Gingerbread. "Wanna rescue our colts from each other?" I asked.

Solo nodded and smiled. We trotted over to the two and grabbed their hooves, leading them away. I led Ballad over to a shaded area away from our friends. "We haven't gone a date in months," I said, mock-pouting. "Maybe we should just break up." I said it dramatically, swooshing my tail theatrically.

Ballad thought I was serious. He blanched and stuck his ears back. "N-no, Thespie!" he stammered. "I mean… I get that we haven't spent much time together, but-"

I laughed. "I'm joking, Bard." I tapped his muzzle with my hoof. "Guess my acting skills are better than I thought!"

He chuckled humorlessly, and I thought he was angry for a moment before he broke out in a smile. "C'mon." We flew into the air and sat on a cloud a bit above the others. Ballad looked me right in the eyes, his gaze burning into mine. "Thespian Moon," he said seriously. "I've known you since you were fourteen, and now you're fifteen. We've been together for one year officially. I've seen you laugh; I've seen you cry. I've seen you triumph on stage." He paused his serious speech for a thoughtful look. "I don't think I've seen you bomb yet."

I laughed and shoved at him. "Who says it'll happen?"

He smiled at me. "Nopony. Anyway, I've seen you and loved you for an entire year. I want you to know that I really do care about you, Thespie."

I raised my eyebrows. "Well… that's heartfelt," I said. "Thank you, Ballad. I… that really means a lot to me, especially after all this horrible crap that just happened. I care about you too." I leaned in and kissed him gently.

He returned the kiss and pulled away. "All I needed to know."

We flew back down to the others, calling an impromptu meeting. The Theatre Group all piled together on a blanket while we talked about the newest play that the school was doing. Stage Crew and Bright Light were talking in a language only they understood about flies and gels and rigging. Gears jumped in at one point and began discussing the mechanics of the play, about how to attach wheels to a set piece without anypony being able to see. Cinder Gold pulled Gears out of the conversation as she began talking about the metal skeleton of said set piece. Gears teleported a piece of paper and several pencils and massive erasers from who knows where as Cinder Gold began to sketch. Stunning and Glimmers began having a silent conversation with their hooves as they talked about the costumes. Stunning signed the only word in Equestrian Sign Language I knew, which was "table."

"Table?" I repeated.

Cinder Gold looked up and shook her head. "That's _piano," _she corrected me.

"Piano?" I repeated.

Cinder nodded. "_Piano_. _Chair_. _Staircase_. Now she's saying that maybe Gears can build it."

"How did you learn all of this? And what do we need all of this furniture for?" I questioned.

"Well don't you know?" Stunning asked. "We're doing _Les Mis_!"

**XXX**

**Okay, I'm sorry. I'm really, truly sorry about that. It's just that I'm such an obsessed Mizzie I and needed some incentive to get back into this story. This is going to be fun. :P Anyway, anyone notice Cinder blushing at Glimmers? Hmm… (Sorry Shado.) New shipping, mayhaps? **


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